


The Hermit's Library

by Helmhammerhand



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, giddy romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 21:05:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1702517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helmhammerhand/pseuds/Helmhammerhand
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean sauntered over to the blonde, steps quick with pleasure, and interrupted him with a firm kiss. Armin's cheeks flushed where Jean's fingertips were lightly tracing out small circles. Breaking off, they held each other's gaze for a few moments. Jean brushed a few stray strands of hair behind Armin's ears. The rest was pulled back into a ponytail. He knew it was for practical purposes, but he found Armin most attractive this way. He'd never been very interested in books as a child, but Armin was overwhelmingly adorable when he was reading, especially when he was so enthralled with his books that he seemed no longer aware of the world around him. Armin had held onto his habit of slightly mouthing the words as his eyes trailed the page, a mannerism that Jean found charming. The thought caused him to break out into a foolish grin, and Armin narrowed his eyes at him.</p><p>"That is your planning face, Jean. You know I'm the tactician here, what have you got planned?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hermit's Library

Out of respect, Jean had kept the Commander's office nearly identical to how Erwin had furnished it. It was quite large for what it was, though austere. On the far end was a window that looked out over the courtyard below. On the edge of hearing were the muffled sounds of training exercises taking place. In front of the window stood a desk, across which papers were littered. Jean looked at them and sighed. Becoming Commander involved significantly more paperwork than he had anticipated. He walked over to the desk, running his hands across the wood. Armin had told him that the wood came from one of the sequoia trees near the Giant Forest; he shuddered, remembering the first time he was there. He had been back several times since then, after they had retaken Wall Maria and driven out the titans. All of the titans. After the betrayal of the shifters, Jean had found it difficult to trust others, more than he already had. Even now, there were only a select few he trusted completely. 'Maybe that's a good quality for a Commander,' he thought. He knew this was the most prosperous humanity had been in hundreds of years, but they had lost so much. Erwin had died in the encounter with the shifters, along with over thirty-five percent of the Survey Corps, several civilian casualties, and the traitors themselves.

Jean had been shocked when Levi and Hanji informed him that he was chosen to be the new Commander after Erwin's death. He remembered their faces vividly, Levi's classically disinterested sideways glances and Hanji's enthusiastic grin and flailing limbs. In training, Marco had told him that he was a good leader, but Jean had never really believed him. He felt he was a very poor replacement for Erwin, and it was obvious several people agreed with him, including many of his old squad mates. Surely there was someone more qualified than him to lead humanity's fighting force, someone who had been in the Corps for more than six years. Someone, anyone, with a bit more experience, more courage. He was the one they had chosen however and he couldn't exactly refuse, although the responsibility of the position terrified him. So many lives, so much blood on his hands. When it was announced Armin was among the least surprised, and Jean suspected he might have been involved in the decision. After the Stohess incident, Armin was always by Erwin's side offering counsel. It seemed that the higher ups in the Corps disregarded age as a factor, electing to focus more on ability and talent. Jean could see why Erwin had hand-picked Armin; his intelligence proved invaluable and had protected many soldiers from early deaths. With his help, Jean had excelled as Commander. Together, humanity had retaken Wall Maria.

Jean walked over to the huge shelves of books that lined the east wall, smiling to himself. When he first inherited it, he was surprised to notice a few philosophical texts hidden amongst the books on strategy. It seemed Erwin was more of an intellectual than he let on, or perhaps he'd just inherited them from Hanji. 'Armin must have read every one of these by now.' As if on cue, the door opened behind him and Armin walked in. Jean turned to look at him; he noticed how much they had both changed since their training years. They had been through so much together, and they wore their experiences on their faces. When someone has seen so much needless death, so much tragedy, it had a way of working itself into your body and bleeding back out again slowly. Jean knew his own face must be covered with worry lines and scars by now, but Armin had retained so much of his pure appearance. Armin saluted, "Commander, you've excellent timing. I have been researching alterations to Erwin's scouting movement strategy. I feel like they will be much more—"

Jean sauntered over to the blonde, steps quick with pleasure, and interrupted him with a firm kiss. Armin's cheeks flushed where Jean's fingertips were lightly tracing out small circles. Breaking off, they held each other's gaze for a few moments. Jean brushed a few stray strands of hair behind Armin's ears. The rest was pulled back into a ponytail. He knew it was for practical purposes, but he found Armin most attractive this way. He'd never been very interested in books as a child, but Armin was overwhelmingly adorable when he was reading, especially when he was so enthralled with his books that he seemed no longer aware of the world around him. Armin had held onto his habit of slightly mouthing the words as his eyes trailed the page, a mannerism that Jean found charming. The thought caused him to break out into a foolish grin, and Armin narrowed his eyes at him.

"That is your planning face, Jean. You know I'm the tactician here, what have you got planned?"

"That I cannot tell you, Armin. I need you to prepare to leave. We will be heading out in a few minutes, beyond Wall Rose. Return here when you are ready." Armin nodded, eyes suspicious, and saluted again before turning to leave. Jean eyes trailed him out the door. 'Even his salute had retained its perfection and sincerity.' Jean realized that, if he ordered it, Armin would give his life for him. Even if he didn't order it, he might still do it. Jean couldn't remember it, but had heard that Armin had defended Jean when he was unconscious from an injury. 'He must have known it was hopeless, but he did it anyway.' Even though they hadn't been in direct danger in months, he felt his heart drop whenever Armin left his sight. He wanted to protect him from the world, to be together in peace. That's why he felt he needed to do this, to repay a small fraction of the favors Armin had given to him, done for him.

Shortly, Armin returned carrying a light pack and the two of them made their way towards the stables. As they were prepping their horses, Armin looked sideways at him. "Jean, you know you can't hide things from me."

"Is that so? Tell me then, Armin, where are we going?"

"Our route takes us south of Wall Rose. There are few villages in that direction, none of which offer many strategic advantages to our excursions because of their distance from Wall Maria. I cannot think of any reason we would need to pass through them unless we are on an expedition. I'd hardly call the two of us an expedition."

Jean finished lacing the saddle, then climbed gracefully onto his horse. He looked down at Armin with the slick smirk that Armin found equally irritating and enticing. He wanted to kiss that smirk right off his stupid, gorgeous face. "Is that your way of telling me you have no idea where we are going?" Jean laughed, and his horse began trotting out of the stables. "Good."

Armin cursed him under his breath, hopped on his horse and followed him out.

The trip had taken a few hours when they stopped for lunch close to their midway point. The two men had shared bread and cold stew which Jean had prepared himself the night before. Armin made sick faces to tease him about the taste. Jean chided him that he was still Commander and there were very many people who would be fit for Head Tactician.

It was just after noon when the two headed into Kuiper, and the wheels in Armin's head were still turning. He had a rough idea of what Jean intended, but he wanted to enjoy the surprise so he kept his thoughts on adjusti ng expedition tactics. The silence was comfortable between them, and he hardly noticed when Jean was already tethering his horse and walking up the front steps. He looked up at the building in front of them, a large grin bursting across his face.

"The Kuiper library is one of the largest within the walls," he said excitedly. "Over 10,000 books were moved here after retaking Wall Maria, as a way to celebrate humanity's continuing ingenuity. There are several I have been considering requesting, but I haven't had the time."

Jean was standing on a landing, smiling widely down at Armin. "I knew you'd figure it out, but the surprise wasn't what I was looking forward to most."

Armin secured his own horse and ran up the stairs, flinging himself into Jean's arms, who wrapped them around him tenderly. Armin smushed his face into the other's chest, whispering words of gratitude over and over. When he pulled away, Jean tried to memorize the way he had a look of serenity and immense pleasure on his face. Jean used his fingers to tip Armin's face towards his, placing soft kisses across his lips. When they parted, Armin grabbed Jean's hand and ran up the stairs. Armin hadn't been this excited in years, and the sight of him laughing and talking rapidly about what he was going to read first made Jean melt inside.

Armin had built a miniature book fort surrounding them, piles stacked almost as tall as he was. It reminded Jean of the forts him and his friends used to make as children, hiding beneath them, pretending they were the only ones on the planet. He realized he felt the same way now. For all intents and purposes, Armin was no longer a part of this world; the book in his hands encompassed all of his attention. Jean knew if this had been years ago, in the training barracks, he would have been jealous. He had been so determined then to have Armin focus on him instead of some far off fantasy land. He knew now that Armin loved him unconditionally, and no imaginary place could be better than the life they shared. Armin used books as a way to glimpse beyond the walls, and although he never told Jean, he always pictured the two of them in the stories. 'Someday, when we make it beyond the walls, we will see it all together.' He glanced up at Jean, who was using the book in his hands as more of a prop than actually reading it, an excuse to stare over the pages at Armin.

Armin flashed him a bright smile before turning back to the pages with rapt attention.

Jean leaned over and kissed the top of his head lightly.

"This is what I was waiting for."

**Author's Note:**

> Title courtesy of Nobuo Uematsu


End file.
